New video reveals why we didn’t get a black OnePlus 3T earlier

OnePlus has released a video discussing the new limited edition Midnight Black version of the OnePlus 3T, and how it was designed. The four-minute video was uploaded to the OnePlus YouTube channel yesterday and contains an unnamed OnePlus designer detailing the Midnight Black’s creation.

Apparently, OnePlus created the black version of the OnePlus 3 before its initial release last June, and the team liked it. However, the designer says “Sadly, it turns out that scaling up this level of craftsmanship to massive levels isn’t as limitless as our imagination.”

It’s not exactly clear what that means; whether it was too expensive or too difficult to produce (though the designer does later mention how OnePlus wanted to avoid the matte black finish becoming a fingerprint magnet), or what changed between then and now. The result, though, is that we got the Graphite and Soft Gold versions of the OnePlus 3 at launch instead.

In the meantime, the OnePlus team continued to pursue the black version, which would later end up with the OnePlus 3T components. “It was harder than we thought,” says the designer, “developing the Midnight Black took over an entire year worth of processes and tests.”

The designer also mentions that only 400 in every 1000 OnePlus 3T Midnight Black units that are produced pass the company’s quality assurance tests, as oppose to 600/1000 of the OnePlus 3T Gunmetal version.

The Midnight Black edition is now ready and will go on sale at 4pm GMT/9am PST today, March 24 at hbx.com. There will be 250 units available for this first pop-up sale, though it will also be on sale for a limited time at OnePlus.net in the future. The device will cost $479/€479/£439.